Piano concert at Hinkle Fieldhouse

Description: Eight hundred twenty five people played 125 grand pianos at Hinkle Fieldhouse on May 3, 1936. Organized by Sigma Alpha Iota, International Music Fraternity, the concerts kicked off the start of National Music Week and featured both an afternoon and an evening performance. The pianists, who were selected from throughout Indiana, played in four groups of 200 people, with two people at each piano, while the remaining 25 people were guest artists of the organization. The piano players ranged in age from nine years old to adults and they played in groups based on their ages. Frank O. Wilking conducted the concerts, which also featured a combined choir of approximately one hundred people from Butler University and the Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music, conducted by Donald C. Gilley, Professor of Music at the University. In 1951, the latter organization merged with the University, forming what is known today as Jordan College of the Arts. A replica of the organizations pin, gold pan pipes circled in gold and set with pearls, hung from the ceiling. The baskets of flowers by the conductor contained 1,000 red roses, Sigma Alpha Iotas flower, given by the Wurlitzer Company, which manufactured all of the pianos featured in the concerts. The fenced off sections at the right of the photograph are likely the box seats that were created for this event.
Origin: 1936-05-03
Created By: Bass Photo Company
Source: http://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/BldgsGrnds/id/960
Collection: Butler University Buildings and Grounds Collection
Rights: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
Copyright: In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Geography: Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 39.843607, -86.167299
39.843607
-86.167299
Subjects: Butler University--Buildings
College buildings
Field houses
Sports facilities
Gymnasiums
Basketball arenas
Piano
Pianists
Wurlitzer Company
Concerts
Sigma Alpha Iota
Butler University--Choral organizations
Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music--Choral organizations
Choirs (Music)
Conductors (Music)
College teachers
Butler University--Faculty
Butler University--Employees
Bunting (Cloth)
Roses
Baskets
Fences
Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music
Jordan College of the Arts
Police
Butler University--History
Indianapolis (Ind.)--History
People
Hinkle Fieldhouse
Butler Fieldhouse
Gilley, Donald C.
Wilking, Frank O.
National Music Week
Fairview campus

Further information on this record can be found at its source.